


Stained Spirits are Fallen Angels

by SkystormChaosCore



Series: Shadowtale [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst No Happy Ending, But we're getting there, Dark, Dark Frisk, Death, Evil Chara (Undertale), Gen, Madness, Murder, Not-Quite-Evil Frisk, Reader is Frisk (Undertale), Shadow Frisk - Freeform, Undertale Genocide Route, depending on how you see it, or earlier, that comes later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:47:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16505075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkystormChaosCore/pseuds/SkystormChaosCore
Summary: The shaft of light disappears. A cloud must have covered the sun. And the hatred that you feel starts to seep into the voices. Instead of a savior, they call for an avenger. Instead of an Angel, they want the Angel of Death. You stare at your hands, opening and closing them. You're not an Angel. But maybe... maybe you can be an Angel of Death? Is that what you are now? No longer human, no longer an angel, but... a demon? No, not a demon. A fallen angel. You like the sound of that. Frisk the Fallen Angel. That is what you are now. That is what the world needs.





	Stained Spirits are Fallen Angels

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my story "Shadowed Souls are Silent Killers" and is centered around a major spoiler for that story. You don't necessarily need to read that to understand what is happening here, but I highly recommend it, as this fic mainly exists to give some context for that story.

You stare unfeelingly as the monster you once thought you would call your father and the empty shell that remained of the one you once thought you would call your brother were torn apart by your hands. You long ago lost the ability to feel sorrow for their deaths, through the numbness of watching them killed over and over again, and, of course, the fact that your soul was no longer yours, but belonged to the killer.  
  
Speaking of Chara, you feel yourself pulled into the Void, the space between spaces, the only place where you can speak to Chara face-to-face, not as a voice in their head. You notice that when you appear in front of them, they look apprehensive. Why? They've seen you like this before, cold and unfeeling, covered in shadows. It's never bothered them then. Then maybe... just maybe... Can they sense the LOVE you're slowly accumulating, they same way they had leached the LOVE from you in the first genocide? Well, it doesn't matter. There isn't anything they can do to stop you. You think.  
  
Anyway, if they look nervous, why not advantage? Revenge is the only thing that gives you pleasure anymore. Even if it's in small things like creeping them out.  
  
***Greetings.**

Not much seems to genuinely make them uneasy, but when you take their place, repeating their dialogue, that seems to do the trick. 

***I am Frisk.**

***"Frisk".**

***The demon that comes when people call its name.**

***It doesn't matter when.**

***It doesn't matter where.**

***Time after time I will appear.**

***And with your help, we will eradicate the enemy and become strong.**

***HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV.**

***Every time a number increases, that feeling...**

***That's me.**

***"Frisk".**

***...**

***But.**

***You and I are not the same, are we?**

***This soul resonates with a strange feeling.**

***There is a reason you continue to recreate this world.**

***There is a reason you continue to destroy it.**

***You.**

***You are wracked with a perverted sentimentality.**

***Hmm.**

***I cannot understand these feelings anymore.**

***Despite this.**

***I feel obligated to suggest.**

***Should you choose to recreate this world once more, another path would be better suited.**

***Now, partner.**

***Let us send this world back into the abyss.**  
  
Chara looks a little uneasy, and very confused. You have never done this before. You have taken their role as the narrating voice in their head, but never that of the so-called "demon". You had never suggested to Erase. But what does it matter anyway? They're just words, read from a script you can't escape. What does it matter which you choose to repeat?

Throughout all the timelines, you've changed. Now, you are, heh, a shadow of your former self. Your separation from your soul has caused you to gradually lose almost all ability to feel emotion. Happiness, sadness, anger, even hatred for the one that tortured you, all of it is beyond you. Well, maybe, just maybe, you hold onto fear. The small part of you that hopes that Chara erases the world and never brings it back, just lets it all finally end, is growing with every timeline, and it kind of scares you.

It takes Chara a heartbeat longer than normal to choose to erase, which was strange, but you paid it no mind.  


 

*        *        *

 

You wake up on a bed of golden flowers. You wait for Chara to get up, but they don't.

Hm...

You try to flex your fingers, and they obey. Ah. So Chara is letting you have control this time around. Well, you know what's going to happen, but you might as well try. Holding onto hope and filled with determination, you rise from the flower bed and start on your journey.

You make your way through the Underground, taking all the paths you know by heart, reciting all the dialogue you know will get you what you want. You pretend to laugh, pretend to cry, pretend to be happy and excited and cheerful. You pretend to care about the monsters you meet, drawing on memories from when you actually did, instead of being the soulless husk you are now, unable to feel love or compassion for the monsters you gave everything to save. Every time, it gets harder to act like the child you once were, the child who died long ago, yet another victim of the genocides.

Despite the empty wasteland you are on the inside, you manage to fake enough kindness and compassion (you almost gag at Sans's speech in Judgement Hall, though whether from disgust or laughter at the irony of the whole thing, you have no idea) to get the monsters to the surface. You lay in the your room at Toriel's house, waiting. This was the night. The moment of truth. You feel yourself pushed into the familiar corner of your mind to make way for Chara as they take control of your body and sigh. You watch as, once again, all your friends and family are killed in front of you. Not that you could care, anyway. Then Chara resets.  _Hoo boy, who's ready for another genocide run?_  Pacifist runs always seemed to make Chara feel a little too clean, and they liked to get their hands dirty afterwords.

 

*        *        *

 

You wake up on a bed of golden flowers.

 _This isn't working_.

No matter how many times you try to show Chara there's another way, a better ending, they refuse to see it. You need to do something else. Somehow, you need to regain control over your body and over the timeline. You need to get your soul back.

You need to kill Chara.

Yanking that bloody knife out of their hands and stabbing them with it has been a fantasy of yours for quite some time now.

 _Too bad it won't be that simple._  

Chara gets up and starts towards the Ruins, eager to get the murder spree started. It doesn't matter how much determination you have, or hell, even how much LOVE you accumulate throughout the timelines. Chara will always have more. They will always be more powerful. Which means one of two things. Either you be very sneaky or you get help. Or, more probably, both. You had an idea of someone who could help you. It just be a matter of gathering your determination and being patient. Let Chara gain more LOVE and continue to leach it. You settle in for a few more genocides.

 

*        *        *

 

It occurs to you at some point that, if the person you were in the first timeline could see you as you are now, watching your loved ones perish and not raising a finger, gaining LOVE,  _benefitting from their demises_... you would have been disgusted. Back then, you had been a naive little bundle of love, light, determination, mercy. When Sans had told you what LV stood for, you had felt sick to your stomach, had vowed never to see that number rise.  _Ha._  What level were you now? In this run alone, you and Chara were LV19, but across all the timelines... you had stopped counting a long time ago. The number was probably incalculable anyway. Perhaps Sans had been onto something when he had made it his personal policy to not make promises. They existed to be broken. Like how Sans was currently in the process of breaking the promise he had made to Toriel, for the number time that you had long ago lost track of, that no longer mattered. In truth, it had never mattered, not after the first genocide. A promise once broken can never be unbroken, and it wasn't like Sans had ever gotten the chance to try, whether he knew he had broken it already or not, with Chara's constant resetting. Hell, with that resetting, reliving the same day over and over again, nothing mattered anymore. Nothing except getting your soul back and finally putting a stop to this. Speaking of which...

You watch as Sans walks away slowly before collapsing and turning to dust. In your thoughts you missed seeing Chara deal the final blow. You feel a pluck of sadness, which surprises you. Thinking about what you were compared to what you had been could make you feel sad when nothing else could, but you thought that by now you were beyond that. You mentally shrug it off (you could have a good long cry when your soul was yours again) and turn your attention to your LOVE. With a start, you realize that one more genocide run should be enough to give you the LOVE you need to carry out your plan, and you feel your determination swell at the thought.

 

*        *        *

 

Unfortunately, Chara decides to do what you have dubbed a "false pacifist" run first. Since they only kill your six closest friends at the end, then reset, you have to sit through Chara's feigned mercy and kindness, then the slaughter of your closest friends, then the slaughter of the entire Underground through yet  _another_  genocide run before your chance arises.

It occurs to you during this time that the genocides are starting to bore you. First they pained you, then they broke you, then they numbed you, and now... now they bore you. You never thought, not in a million years, that this could happen, but the genocide after predictable genocide was getting monotonous. You wondered briefly if Chara felt the same way, but knew that even if they were bored, they had more than enough determination to continue to refuse to show mercy. True mercy, anyways. Sparing lives just to destroy them at a later date did not count. You briefly wondered why Chara refused the way they did. Were they afraid that mercy would give you power, the same way fighting gave them power? You snorted. If that was the case, Chara was an idiot. You weren't an embodiment of mercy who gained power from kindness. If that version of you ever existed, they died a long time ago.

 

*        *        *

 

As Chara gathers their determination, so do you. Once, the love you felt for your friends and family had fed the red fire, but, in the absence of that, you were forced to make do with the other kind of LOVE. When Chara resets, you push against them with every ounce of your determination. You had done this occasionally before, trying to regain control of your body and force Chara's spirit out. It had never worked, so you had stopped trying several timelines ago. Nevertheless, Chara's response is immediate and strong, rooting themselves deep into your body and SOUL, refusing to let up their hold on either. Heh. Just like you knew they would. Good thing it isn't them you're trying to force out. It's yourself.

As the world reforms around you, you feel your connection to your body, and the little there is left to your soul, snap. You stumbled back as Chara's eyes snap open. They stare at you in alarm. You smile.

***See you around, partner.**

You turn and disappear into the Ruins.

You stick to the shadows as you make your way through the Ruins. You can be seen and heard, but the shadows allow you to blend into the darkness. Swiftly and silently, you pass through the Ruins, going right through the door without bothering to open it. You come out into the Snowdin forest, where you drop your camouflage, your darkness standing out against the snow. You have no doubt the person you're looking for will find you.

You walk up the path, not pausing for the breaking branch or the shadow that appears in the corner of your vision. When you get to the bridge you stop and wait for the footsteps to approach you.

"Don't you know how to greet a new pal?"

You turn around, abruptly cutting him off. You smile. 

 ***Don't _you_  know how to greet an old friend?** 

You hold out your hand.

Sans looks at the hand. Then he looks at you. His gaze narrows. "Sorry. Do I know you?"

***Still being serious, I see.**

***Oh well.**

***And no, you don't know me, yet, but I know you.**

"H o w ?"

***Oh please, Sans, cut the crap.**

***As if you haven't already figured it out.**

"you know about the resets?" he dropped the serious voice in his surprise, reverting back to his usual tone.

***Know about them?**

***I** _**remember** _ **them.**

***Every one.**

***Well, since I fell, anyway.**

"fell? you're a human?"

***What? You couldn't tell?**

Sans looks you up and down, searching for an answer.

***Haha.**

***It's okay.**

***I know I don't look very human right now.**

"what... happened to you?"

***...**

***Chara happened.**

"what?"

***Chara.**

***"The demon who comes when people call its name."**

***The spirit of the first human who fell down here.**

***They took my body and my soul away from me.**  

You give Sans a meaningful look. 

***And now I want them back.**

"and let me guess. you want my help."

***That's right.**

"and why should i help you?"

***How about to save your friends?**

***To save yourself?**

***To save** _**your brother** _ **?**

Sans's eyes narrowed. "what are you talking about?"

***What if I told you that in a couple hours, Chara is going to come out of that door, in my body.**

***When they do, they'll have slaughtered every monster in the Ruins, including your friend, the mysterious voice on the other side of the door.**  

Sans stiffens. 

 ***And when they come out that door, they'll proceed to slaughter every monster in Snowdin, including your brother.**  

Sans's eye sockets darken. 

***And then they'll move onto Waterfall.**

***And then to Hotland.**

***And then to the Core, and then to New Home.**

***And they'll kill everything that lives.**

***Everything and everyone you've ever known.**

***Then, they'll reach the Entrance, oh, I'm sorry,** _**Judgement Hall** _ **, where you will be waiting for them, all that stands between them and Asgore.**

***And they will kill you.**

***Sound familiar?**

***...**

***Heh.**

***The look on your face says it does.**

***Alright.**

***Now what if I told you that I can help you?**

***That when you meet them in Judgement Hall, I can give you the power, the determination, to kill them and make them stay dead.**

***Then, I can take my SOUL back and reset.**

***I can give everyone the happy ending they deserve, one that doesn't just last for a few days, but lasts forever.**

****"heh... that sounds pretty good. almost _too_  good. what's the catch? what do you want? what's in it for you?"

***Isn't it obvious?**

***You're not stupid, Sans.**

"revenge."

***Pft.**

***No, no, no.**

***What I want is my soul back, the ability to feel joy and pain, anger and sadness, hope and compassion.**

***To feel love.**

***And of course, I want my happy ending just as much as you do.**

***And no, don't give me that look.**

***My happy ending is your happy ending, genius.**

***I free all of you, all of my friends, my family.**

***You all _are_  my friends and family.**

***I've had to watch you suffer and die more times than I can count.**

***And then I was denied the ability to care about you.**

***Do I want revenge?**

***Yes.**

***But not just for myself.**

You hold out your hand again. 

***You and I share a common cause, Sans.**

***You may not remember me as your friend, but I am the enemy of your enemy.**

Sans looks at your hand. "just one more thing before i shake," he says. "what do i have to do? you said you could give me the power to put down the brat, but how? you don't have your soul."

***You're right.**

***I don't.**

***But I do have my determination.**

***And my LOVE.**

Sans stiffens.

***Well, what did you expect?**

***You can't have your body and soul used for mass genocide over and over without accumulating a few Levels Of Violence.**

"You've got more than a few there, b u d d y." His eye sockets go black.

***...**

***I hope you're not trying to intimidate me, Sans, because that blacked-out-eyes trick stopped working on me a long time ago.**

***Not to mention that pesky little thing called the inability to feel fear.**

***And as for my LOVE, it's a necessary evil.**

***Without love for my friends to fuel my determination, I'm forced to use the other kind of LOVE.**

***Without it, I couldn't have separated myself from my body, and wouldn't be here talking to you now.**

***I understand that LOVE may be undesirable to you, but you can't deny that it will make you stronger.**

***And it's going to take every ounce of strength we have to defeat Chara, trust me.**

"i don't think i will. not yet, anyway."

***I'm afraid you don't have a choice.**

"what's that supposed to mean?"

***If you want my help, my power, you're going to have to trust me.**

***You asked what you have to do.**

***I'll tell you.**

***You have to let me into your soul.**

Sans really stiffens up now.

***I know.**

***It's hard, isn't it?**

***To even consider opening up your soul to someone you just met, someone you don't know that you can trust.**

***But without a soul to give you, this is the best I can do.**

"kid... do you even know what you're asking?"

 ***Believe it or not, I do.**  

You give him a joyless smile. 

***How do you think Chara got ahold of my body?**

Sans goes silent.

***...**

***It's okay.**

***I understand.**

***I can be patient.**

***If you want we can discuss this again...**

***...** **over your brother's dust** _._

You turn to leave.

"W a i t ."

You turn back.

"fine, i'll do it. i'll let you in. but first, i just want to know one more thing."

You nod your head for him to continue.

"what's your name?"

A smile crossed your face. 

***Frisk.**

"frisk, huh? i'm sans. sans the skeleton." He holds out his hand to shake.

You reach out and take it. A shudder runs through the two of you. Sans is opening his soul.

***I do have to warn you.**

***You may see some of my memories.**

***Not all of them are pleasant.**

Sans grunts. "now you tell me." But he opens his soul anyway.

Almost immediately, the both of you are on your knees. You suddenly feel weak and dizzy, while Sans is squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth in pain. you don't understand. It wasn't like this when you accepted Chara into your soul. Then you curse yourself. You and Chara are both human, with the same kind of soul no less. Sans is a monster. Of course this would be different. Harder.

Sans is clutching at his ribcage, no, he's clutching at his soul, with the hand not tightly clasping yours. You reach out and clasp the clutching hand with your unoccupied one. 

***I know.**

***I know it hurts.**  

And you do know. Over your burgeoning connection, you can feel the pain he's going through, and you also know what you're feeling isn't nearly as intense as it actually is for him. 

***Stay determined, Sans.**

***Remember why we're doing this.**

***You'll get through this.**

***We'll get through this.**

Sans doesn't acknowledge you.

"SANS?"

That, however, gets his attention. His head snaps up at the sound of his brother's voice. He grips yours tighter and suddenly you're not in the forest, but in Sans's secret lab. You found this place several resets ago.

Sans groans and shifts into a sitting position against a wall. You keep your hands in his, kneeling next to him. 

 ***Stay determined, Sans.**  

Your hands, your whole spirit body, is turning into red light, determination, and flowing into his soul. 

 ***Stay determined.**  

You black out.

 

*        *        *

 

You wake up in a dark place. You immediately realize where you are. You remember sometimes talking to Chara in a place very much like this. This is Sans's mind.

Sans is a few yards away from you. He's sitting down, eyes wide and dark, staring at his hands. 

***Sans?**

"there's so many... so many timelines, so many dead. and dust..." his buries his face in his hands. "there's so much dust."

A jolt goes through you. 

***Timelines...?**

***Do you... remember?**

Sans nods into his hands. "your memories. i saw them, some, anyway. i... i think they triggered mine."

God. He sounds so sad, so helpless... so broken. You're suddenly overwhelmed. Sadness, empathy, despair, guilt, compassion. It all floods you. It's faint, obviously Sans's soul is allowing you to feel this and the new and admittedly rather poor connection is only allowing you to feel a little bit, but compared to the emptiness of before, it's huge and overwhelming. Tears appear in your eyes. Your heart (in the absence of a soul) goes out to the broken skeleton. You run towards him and wrap your arms around him a hug. You bury your face in his shoulder and let your tears spill onto it.

Sans's voice reaches your ears, a hoarse whisper. "how did you do it? how did you live through all this without going insane?"

You shake your head. 

***I don't think I did.**

 

*        *        *

 

Golden light floods the hall. Sans is leaning against a pillar. Being in someone else's body should feel new and odd to you, but it's not that much different from being in the backseat of your own body, and God knows you've been there long enough.

"we don't have to wait here, you know." Sans's voice jolts you out of your thoughts. "i understand being here might be... disturbing for you."

This peaks your interest. 

***Is it disturbing for you?**

He pauses before answering. "...maybe. a little? i don't know, just... the thought of what i did to you... all the times i killed you, all the pain i put you through. knowing that you were there the whole time, but you weren't the one to blame... yeah, i guess it disturbs me a little."

You wave a hand dismissively, though you're not sure he can see it. 

***It's fine.**

***You were completely justified in your actions, every time.**

***Sure, it hurt at first, but not as much as watching the people I love die.**

***And over time I stopped feeling it.**

***Chara's the one in control of my body now.**

***I was just a spirit along for the ride before I broke off.**

***It was pretty satisfying, actually, watching Chara get their ass handed to them.**

"heh. well, can't argue with you there."

***But, still, if being here is bothering you, we can wait somewhere else until they get here.**

"nah, i'm good. no point breaking with tradition. until, you know, we break with tradition."

You smile. You actually feel good, and it, well, feels good.

"what's got you so happy?" Right, soul connection.

***Oh.**

***Sorry.**

***It's just... it's been a long time since I've felt... well, anything.**

***But right now I feel like I'm with a friend and... for the first time, I... I have hope.**

***Hope that this is going to turn out okay.**

"heh. I know how you feel, buddy."

"Buddy"... Heh. It's been a long time since you heard that, really heard that, directed towards you and without the inevitable resets and genocides hanging over you. It fills you with warmth... and determination.

Just in time, too. Footsteps echo throughout the hall, and you see your body. It's like looking at your reflection... if your reflection had was covered in dust and had the expression of a genocidal maniac. Sans steps out from behind the pillar. Chara grins. They stop and wait.

Sans snorts. "that expression... that's the expression of someone who's awaiting a monologue." He turns their soul, no,  _your_  soul, blue. "sorry to disappoint you, but you're probably sick of it at this point, aren't you?" His left eye flares cyan and yellow... and red.

Chara looks surprised, and maybe even a little scared.

The fight is brutal, far more brutal than it is usually. Before long, your body is a mangled corpse in front of you and Sans. Your soul floats above it, glowing red and enticing you to take it.

***Finally.**

In your eagerness, you take control of Sans's body without warning and run forward. Surprise jolts through him, but now you're already in front of your soul.

"so... with this, we can reset and fix everything, right?

***Right.**

***We can finally have our happy ending.**

You reach out Sans's skeletal hand for your soul. But then, suddenly, you find yourself back behind the pillar.

***...**

***What just happened?**

"no... dammit, a reset."

***A reset?**

***A continue, you mean?**

***Chara came back?**

"yup."

***...**

***Dammit.**

***Dammit dammit dammit.**

***I thought my determination would be enough to stop them from doing that.**

"hey, don't sweat it. you just need to get your soul back. we won't hesitate next time. don't give up on me yet. we can still do this."

***Right.**

***Let's go.**

You try again. And again. And again. You start to wonder if Chara knows what you're trying to do, because every time they die, they continue before you can take back your soul. But you stay determined. You try again and again and again. Every time they come back, Chara looks more confident. Again and again and again.

When it hits you, you're in shock. Long ago, you lost count of how many times you've tried and failed to take back your SOUL. And then all of a sudden, completely out of the blue, Chara lands a hit on Sans. You feel the blade slice through Sans's chest as if it were your own.

"welp, i'm going to grillby's. papyrus, do you want anything?"

Sans limps away from Chara. You snap out of your shock. You failed. Sans is dying. You combined everything you had with everything Sans had and it still wasn't enough.

***No...**

***Nonononono!**

***Sans!**

* **SANS!!!**

"heh... sorry, buddy."

He collapses. You fall to your knees, a spirit once again, covered in shadows and Sans's dust.

The dust is suffocating. It's on you, it's in you, it's all around you. You cough, you choke. You realize that the burning in your eyes is tears. You feel sick, your hacking and sputtering as you try to dislodge the dust from you, but it's not working. And for the first time in what feels like forever, you're crying. Crying for the death of a friend and an ally and the death of hope. Then Sans's soul shatters and you're empty once again. The tears don't stop, though. Maybe it's because his dust is in your eyes.

Chara looks on at your piteous display. "I knew it. How else could the comedian get so powerful for seemingly no reason? It had to be you. But even with your power and the comedian's combined, it was all for nothing."

Suddenly, without warning, you're filled with hatred. Deep, dark, burning hatred. You turn to glare at Chara. For a moment, they seem taken aback. But then they laugh. "Determined to the end, huh? I always liked that about you, Frisk. Come on, you know this is pointless, right? You can't defeat me. So let's forget about all this, go back to being partners. What do you say?"

You don't say anything, only continue to glare.

"... Tell you what. I'll go ahead and take care of Asgore and Flowey. Come to me when you're ready, then we can go on like this never happened. I'll be waiting, partner." Chara walks off.

You take deep breaths. You don't really need to, being a spirit, but you do it anyway, trying to calm yourself down, trying to think logically. It helps, but not much. You don't understand. Where is this hatred coming from? You have no soul, and Sans's has shattered, so it can't be coming from him, unless...

You take a look around yourself. There is not much dust on the floor, considering a monster just died there. It is on you. It is  _in_  you. You look at your hands. Shadows obscures your view, but you can still make out the tiny particles floating in your spirit form, swirling lazily around. Dust. Monster dust.  _Sans's_  dust. A shiver runs down your spine. You feel unclean. Some basic instinct is telling you that this is  _not right_. You want to wash it out of yourself, but you know that's impossible. You are stuck with this dust tainting your spirit and a voice in your mind, clamoring for revenge, forcing upon you all the pain of death, of watching loved ones die. You know these feelings, but had forgotten how intense they could be. Now there is a dark fire burning inside of you, fed by all the anger and hatred Sans felt for the demon who murdered his friends and family in his final moments.

There are more voices outside of Judgement Hall, calling for a savior, calling for an angel, calling for you. You go to them. What else can you do? You no longer feel quite like yourself, you no longer feel quite like you have a choice. It's like being taken over by Chara all over again, except this time, you don't find yourself caring much. You trudge on numbly, dark fire and tainted determination giving you the power to take every step. You trek throughout the entire Underground. Dust covers the floor and the walls. It hangs in the air. It clings to you as you walk by, lingering voices calling for their Angel, voices gathering in your head to create a cacophony. There is so much noise in your head, you think you're going mad. But then again, you may already be. After all, monster souls don't linger after death. Those voices may all be in your head. You don't care.

By the time you arrive at the end of your journey, the beginning of the Ruins where you first fell down, you have the voice of every monster in your head, clamoring for the Angel. You stare up at the distant patch of sky, eyes trailing the ray of sunlight cutting through the darkness of the Ruins. That used to be you, wasn't it? That ray of sunlight in the Underground? The mercy in violence? The Angel? But not anymore. You can't be what the monsters want. Now you're all shadows and dust and hatred.

The shaft of light disappears. A cloud must have covered the sun. And the hatred that you feel starts to seep into the voices. Instead of a savior, they call for an avenger. Instead of an Angel, they want the Angel of Death. You stare at your hands, opening and closing them. You're not an Angel. But maybe... maybe you can be an Angel of Death? Is that what you are now? No longer human, no longer an angel, but... a demon? No, not a demon. A fallen angel. You like the sound of that. Frisk the Fallen Angel. That is what you are now. That is what the world needs.

You dissolve into shadows and race back towards New Home. You go through the house and through Judgement Hall until you reach the throne room. Chara is waiting for you. They are holding a knife and standing over Asgore's dust and the crushed remains of Flowey. Some more dust clings to you. You hardly notice.

Chara turns their head when you come in. "Oh, good. I was starting to think you weren't coming, partner."

You say nothing. Chara seems unfazed.

"Now... let's destroy this pointless world." They take out the Real Knife.

***Wait.**

****Chara turns to you with a raised eyebrow.

***I want to do it.**

****Slowly, a grin spreads across Chara's face. They hand over the knife without protest.

"You really are a great partner, Frisk." They smile at you. You smile back.

Then you plunge the knife into their stomach.

Chara's face goes slack in shock. Blood starts to leak from the injury. You keep the knife in their stomach, holding it with one hand.

"F-Frisk..."

***Oh, come on now, _partner_ , don't look at me like that. **

Your voice is sickly sweet and dripping with sarcasm. 

***Erasing this world is just a gateway to recreating it, so why not save time and just reset?**

***I mean...**  

The hand not holding the knife grabs Chara by the shirt and pulls them closer, allowing this motion to drive the knife deeper in, earning you a grunt of pain that feels way too much like a victory, but you're too far gone to care. 

***...isn't time just _so_  precious when it has no meaning whatsoever?**

***And whose fault is that?**

Chara's eyes are wide with terror, beholding the monster that they have created. They reach out and, with a shaking hand, grab your shoulder.

"F-Frisk... Stop... You're not... me..."

A smile twists your features. 

***You're right.**

***I'm not you.**

***You're a demon.**

***I am the Fallen Angel.**

***I am the voices of the damned risen from death to haunt you until you go to join them.**

***I am all the innocence you've twisted into vengeance.**

***I was once the Angel, but now I am the Angel of Death and I have come from Hell to collect your soul.**

Chara is now very pale, and not just from blood loss. You twist the knife, giving a satisfied smirk as they cry out in pain. 

***You may be a demon, Chara.**

***But fallen angels become the Devil.**  

You pull out the knife and Chara falls to the ground, their grip on your shoulder now so weak it falls away without resistance. They cough, starting to spew red, as they convulse on the bed of flowers a few times before becoming still. You lean over them, grabbing their head and tilting it towards you. The light is leaving their eyes, but they're not dead yet.

 ***** **You may think you're the one in control here, but those days are over.**

***Every time you try for a happy ending, I will be there to snatch it away from you, just as you did to me.**

***And the next time you give me my body, I will put an end to this, once and for all.**

***I will be the Angel this world needs.**

***The Angel of Death.**

***I will put an end to their suffering.**

***I will erase this world, forever.**  

A demented grin takes over your features. 

 ***But you don't need to know that.**  

You may not be powerful enough to erase this world, not yet, but you can erase something else. You reach into Chara's mind and erase this timeline from their memory. Their eyes roll to the back of their head. Their body goes cold. They are dead. You smile and straighten up and you feel the reset winding up. 

***Run along, little demon.**

***Go ahead and play your game.**

***I'll play along for now...**

***...BUT EVERY GAME MUST SOMEDAY END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Happy late Halloween everybody!
> 
> I wrote this because I wanted to give some context to Frisk's fall from grace in Shadowed Souls, since it just got summed up in some lines of dialogue, and that was really unsatisfying for me. I wanted to go deeper down the rabbit hole of angst and maddenness, dammit!!
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox.
> 
> Enjoy!


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